Branches of Wing Chun

In the West, Wing Chun's history has become a mix of fact and fiction due to the impacts of early secrecy and modern marketing.

Yip Man studied under Leung Bik for a few years before returning home to Foshan where he opened his own school.

[3] Yip Man moved to Hong Kong in 1949; his was the first Wing Chun system to be taught publicly, and it has grown to become one of the most popular of the Chinese martial arts.

Leung Jan grew weary of inactivity while in retirement and chose to teach a small group of students in a new variation of Wing Chun that focuses on short drills.

To learn a single form from now-elderly Leung Jan, the villagers needed to pay a significant amount of money.

[8] Tam Yeung, Kwan Jong-yuen, Robert Chu According to this lineage of Wing Chun, the art was conceived at Red Boat Opera, being based on the knowledge of both Jee Shim (presenting the "Always Spring" variation) and Ng Mui (presenting the "Praise Spring" variation).

[9] A Red Boat Opera performer identified as "Painted Face Kam" passed his Wing Chun knowledge to Cho Duk-sang, who came from a family known for Hung Ga Kuen.

[10] Cao Dean initially taught Wing Chun at Hong Kong, but unemployment forced him to move to Malaysia for the second time in his life.

He initially began teaching smaller groups, but as willing students grew in numbers, Cao Dean would establish a dedicated Wing Chun school—the first in the Malay peninsula.

There, Tan Sao-ng's students would train Wong Wah-bo, Leung Yee-tai, Dai Fan Min-kam, and Lai Fook-shun.

His classmates included Leung Lam, Jiu Wan, Lee Shing, Wong Jing, and other semi-famous Wing Chun masters.

[13] Yat Chum Um-jee (Yi Chen Anzhu) → Cheung Ng / Tan Sao-ng Chung Ng / Tan Sao-ng → Wong Wah-bo & Leung Yee-tai → Leung Jan → Chan Wah-shun → Chan Yiu-men → Jiu Chow → Pan Nam Lineage A: Chung Ng / Tan Sao-ng → Wong Wah-bo & Leung Yee-tai → Leung Jan → Chan Wah-shun → Lui Yiu-chai → Lai Hip-chi Lineage B: Chung Ng / Tan Sao-ng → Dai Fa Min-kam → Lok Lan-gong & Lok's nephew → Lai Hip-chi Pam Nam lineages have significant differences to the likes of the Ip Man and Yuen Kay-shan lineages.

[14][page needed] The Pan Nam lineage emphasizes more realistic, chaotic, and less-refined aspects of Wing Chun and features additional self-defense techniques based on ripping, tearing, and use of fingers.

His martial skills earned the terror of Manchurian armies and as a result, the Qing authorities wished to apprehend Dai Dong-fong.

In return for their kindness and seeing their good character, Dai Dong-fong taught the brothers his martial art, Wing Chun.

[20] According to the legend of this lineage, before the destruction of the Shaolin temple the system called Wing Chun had already been developed there from generations of martial arts knowledge.

[21] During Manchurian massacres, two Siu Lam monks managed to flee; Yat Chum Dai-chi and his pupil, Cheung Ng.

Cheung Ng joined Red Boat Opera Company in order to keep his identity as a Siu Lam monk hidden, and to evade the Manchurian government.

The other students of the first generation were Wong Wah-bo, Leung Yee-tai, Dai Fa Min-kam, Lo Man-gong, Siu Sang Hung-fook and Gao Lo-chung.

Each of these students - based on their individual understanding of what Cheung Ng taught - would pass on their own renditions of Wing Chun, each having their own lineages with distinct emphasized elements.

[23] Here, Jee Shim escaped with other Siu Lam Temple monks and would eventually settle as a cook aboard Red Boat Opera Company.

[32] Law Man Gung would pass down the knowledge to Fok Bo-chuen, who would be one of the Wing Chun teachers of Yuen brothers.

In 1936 he was invited to teach Wing Chun in Vietnam at the Nanhai and Shunde Expatriates Associations and moved to Hanoi, where he was known by the Vietnamese pronunciation of his name, Nguyen Te-cong.

Just before he left, Yuen introduced Yiu Choi to his friend and fellow Wing Chun Kuen practitioner, Chan Wah-shun, to continue his studies.

[34] Lineage A: Red Boat Opera → "Painted Face Kam" → Fok Bo-chuen & Fung Siu-ching → Yuen Chai-wan → Yiu Choi Lineage B: Red Boat Opera → Wong Wah-bo → Leung Jan → Chan Wah-shun → Yiu Choi Notable alumni: Fok Chiu[35] Fujian Wing Chun is a group of associated martial arts originated from Fujian Shaolin Temple, where Jee Shim taught martial arts at the temple's Wing Chun Dien (Always Spring Hall).

[41][additional citation(s) needed] Wing Chun variation conceived by Bruce Lee in 1962, before his creation of Jeet Kune Do.

[45][46] In response, Bruce Lee ordered the closure of all Jun Fan Gung Fu schools, and instead focused on a new combat philosophy known as Jeet Kune Do.